Indian and US officials have agreed to pursue a policy environment conducive to collaboration between the defence industry and start-ups in both countries.<br />'' <br />''An understanding in this regard was reached during the 15th meeting of the India-US Defence Policy Group (DPG) in Washington yesterday. <br />'' <br />'' The Indian side was led by Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra, while US team was led by the Undersecretary of Defence for Policy, John Rood. The DPG is the apex official-level meeting mechanism between India and the US on defense issues, which comprehensively reviews and guides all aspects of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.<br />'' <br />'' The meeting took stock of the progress made in various fields of defence cooperation in recent years, including in defence trade, technology, procurement, industry, research and development. Indian Embassy in its statement said both sides underlined the importance of collaboration between the defence industry and start-ups in the two countries and agreed to pursue a policy environment conducive to this.<br />'' <br />'' The two sides reaffirmed the role of the DPG as an important part of the ministerial 22 mechanism, helping translate the shared strategic vision of cooperation into reality.<br />''  <br />